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Spencer pastor charged with felony sexual exploitation

How much oversight should faith-based treatment programs have? Alex Jacobsen nearly took his own life after entering the Dream Center in Spencer and his family is asking what can be done to prevent it from happening to another family.

Clay County authorities this week charged a pastor who started a controversial discipleship program in Spencer with five counts of felony sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist.

Kevin M. Grimes, 51, an Assembly of God minister, was the subject of a Register Reader’s Watchdog investigation in May after Alex Jacobsen, a close friend, attempted suicide while participating in Grimes’ unregulated faith-based treatment program. Not long afterward, authorities confirmed Grimes was under criminal investigation, accused of sexually exploiting others he had counseled, and Grimes resigned.

Jacobsen’s family brought the allegations to authorities' attention.

Grimes has since been dismissed from the Assemblies of God church as a pastor, according to Tom Jacobs, district superintendent of the Iowa Ministry Network for the church.

"We’re just very saddened by all of these events," Jacobs said. "We're concerned for everybody involved in the situation and praying for everybody who's affected."

Grimes came to Spencer from California to pastor at DaySpring Assembly of God Church and started a new drug treatment program earlier this year at the nonprofit Spencer Dream Center, which he and local donors created downtown to help people in need.

Nicholas Hanges, now director of the Spencer Dream Center, said the discipleship program has since been eliminated.

“A letter was recently sent out to our supporters regarding this change,” he wrote the Watchdog. “In the future, we will only offer emergency housing and temporary transitional living accommodations to better fulfill the needs of our community.”

Clay County Attorney Kristi Kuester could not be reached Thursday for comment.

The discipleship program Grimes started in January required that Jacobsen, who was 26 and suffered from mental illness, go off powerful mood-altering drugs before being admitted. Ten days later, after showing obvious signs of withdrawal, his family said, he attempted suicide with a box cutter he found in a hallway.

Paramedics said Jacobsen, a University of Iowa graduate, would have bled to death if he had not been found by Hanges shortly after.

Jacobsen’s family also questioned the relationship Grimes forged with the troubled young man and text messages Grimes sent to him. After the attempted suicide, the family made contact with others who said Grimes was sexually exploiting young men, and put them in touch with Iowa's Division of Criminal Investigation.

On Facebook, Alex Jacobsen, now 27, reached out to friends this week, saying he was one of many young men Grimes counseled, but he wanted to make sure people knew he was not sexually exploited by him.

“My situation accelerated the investigation into this man, I was not sexually exploited but feel very deeply for those who were,” he wrote. “I would appreciate not to be linked to this man and his story but appreciate greatly that my situation was helpful in uncovering alleged criminal activity and may have helped in saving future victims.”

Jacobsen told the Watchdog the criminal charges are not related to him.

“I feel fine and I’ve been staying busy,” he said. “This helps. I just want to offer my condolences to those who were affected by Grimes more seriously than I was.”

Grimes could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Leann Jacobsen, Alex’s stepmother, said the family is grateful to the DCI for taking the case seriously and “for investigating in such a kind, helpful and brave way.” She also thanked the Spencer community for supporting her family and others at critical times “to stop more bad things from happening.”

Hanges issued a statement Thursday from the Dream Center that reads in part:

“We are saddened by the recent news regarding the criminal charges against Kevin Grimes. We are moving forward and will continue to strive to serve our community with our many outreaches and services including food and clothing distribution, free medical and dental care, and our underground youth center.”